Yesterday, I spoke with Bernard Hopkins a few hours before it was announced that legendary Philadelphia boxer Joe Frazier had died of liver cancer. The entire interview is contained in that video link above. To hear excerpts of it, you can get them via this link.

As you'll hear, BHop's respect for what Frazier meant to him, and to the sport, is immense. Though born in South Carolina, Joe was a beloved figure around Philly, one you'd find in a hardware store along Fairmount Avenue or mingling in the Best Western Hotel lounge about a half mile from the statue of a fictional boxer. No pretenses or posturing, either. Just a good man, one who once autographed a neck brace before trying to teach me the science of throwing a hook in a gym that recently became a "furniture & bedding factory outlet."